Apple briefly tops Nvidia as iPhone Duo goes on sale

Apple ↘ 0.14% shares rose to an all-time high on Friday, October 23, as the iPhone Duo, the company's first foldable phone, went on sale in more than 70 countries and regions. During the session, the rally pushed Apple's market value past Nvidia's ↘ 0.59%, making Apple the world's most valuable listed company. The lead did not hold for the whole day, though.

Apple stock traded above $351 on Friday, an intraday record, and its market value reached about $5.12 trillion, 9to5Mac reported. Stocktwits reported that Apple was worth $5.11 trillion against Nvidia's $5.09 trillion in early trading, while Nvidia's shares slipped slightly. The order kept changing during the session, and later live rankings showed Nvidia back in front, according to The Apple Post.tradingview.com+2

The race to the top

Apple came into Friday after a record close of $348.22 on Thursday, which left it about $42 billion behind Nvidia after Nvidia's shares fell 4.4% that day, 24/7 Wall St. reported. Apple closed above a $5 trillion market value for the first time on Wednesday, October 21, according to Yahoo Finance. The two companies have traded the top spot several times this year. Apple first passed Nvidia at a market close in July, which was its first time on top since April 2025, CNBC Comcast Corporation ↘ 0.66% reported. Apple shares are up more than 29% this year, more than any other "Magnificent Seven" stock, per Stocktwits.finance.yahoo.com+3

Demand outruns supply

The Duo starts at $1,999. A few minutes after pre-orders opened on October 16, estimated delivery dates moved out to late January, Reuters reported Thomson Reuters Corporation ↘ 0.07%. Apple limited pre-orders to two phones per customer. The company called pre-order demand "nothing short of extraordinary," CNBC reported. Walk-in stock was limited, and in markets including China, France, Japan and India the phone was not available to walk-in buyers on launch day, MacRumors reported.macrumors.com+2

Greg Joswiak, Apple's marketing chief, told TechRadar, "we didn't ship them all away during the pre-order, we have them available at the stores". JPMorgan ↘ 1.47% analysts expect Apple to ship roughly 8 million to 9 million Duo units this year. That is below earlier estimates of about 10 million because supply is tight, according to CNBC.cnbc.com+1

A niche market

IDC expects Apple to account for 44% of foldable phone market value in 2026 on 31% of unit sales, and to lead the category on both measures by 2027. Not everyone thinks the opportunity is large. Analyst Francisco Jeronimo of IDC pointed to China, "where Huawei owns nearly 80% of foldables," the BBC reported. Apple is scheduled to report fiscal fourth-quarter results on November 2. Those results will not include Duo sales, so investors will be looking at the company's holiday-quarter outlook.charlotteobserver.com+2